afghan politician running for president in two thousand and fourteen so great to have you on our show today first of all let me just say that i admire your courage to do what you are doing in afghanistan i'm aware of the situation with women's rights in afghanistan is far from being perfect it's almost a curse to be born a woman there but still these seem to be optimistic about changes to the lives of afghan women well what goes through how exactly have things changed for women in your country since two thousand and one. it's a pleasure for me to be in your show thank you so much for what you have saved. i think for the woman's life i can see her colorful picture like there are some green zones which talks about progress women have hard both in terms of politics social life compared to the taliban government or the taliban which was actually a nightmare for woman in afghanistan i was living under the situation myself as

a woman in kabul i know what does that mean there is a woman and the taliban but comparing to that time. i think a lot has changed especially women participation in politics right now in the parliament of understand we have sixty nine women parliamentarian out of two hundred number of parliament parliamentarians woman can go to school they go to universities they can participate in the social affairs economy car fares so that's like the green color part of woman's life there is the black side also which is violence against woman kind of structure of discrimination that women are suffering will talk about that was troll process in just a little bit but i want to focus first about your candidacy as a president you're a first of all country's first female deputy speaker of parliament and you're running for president in two thousand and fourteen and although some things may be different like you're sad it would take a total transformation within afghan society to elect

a female president i mean even in the countries with long running democracies it's rare so realistically how do you rate your chances. i had to some it's very difficult situation. especially for a woman to be in the top leadership position it has been possible in other neighboring countries of upon this time to have woman as their leaders understand that the country is a hugely military. and guns are in power rather than just people's voice but in the meantime we have to start from somewhere i believe that you know we are putting the cornerstones for a future so no matter what the election results would be the but the important thing is that we put the right cornerstone for the future ok but obviously so many questions arise because you are you know the symbol of this like black country that everyone is afraid of and also you have this beautiful woman running for president

and obviously everyone is asking who are your main supporters politically does it come mainly from inside or outside. well i believe in title country because that's what i did mostly the support i need the vote of people. i think of my supporters are not limited to one particular province or want particular ethnic society or tribal society although i come from north certainly in politics every politician has their own constituents and i hope that my basic constituents will support me more but i trust as i said before this transformed part of afghan society which include women young generations elderly people as well . what support me. was lucky enough to raise my voice and make it be heard by many people around the world. who believe that

the promise and need a change of leadership and they support me also. and they believe that you know afghanistan cannot continue to be ruled by the same people who have been in government destruction of the country and now they would like to run and be part of the democracy process democracy you know people who believe in democracy should actually be part of the process of democracy is the good thing about it is it gives a chance for everybody to run for everybody to participate in politics but if you bring people who don't believe in democracy and the power to end the position. certainly it doesn't work a democracy will not survive so there are people inside the father son who believe in the but a future for palestine a future where we don't have to just rely on the foreign aid and the foreign support but be a country where we stand on our own feet there are many people in afghanistan that will still believe in that vision but when you say. it is it mainly women

or chasing men will also work for you. i actually have a good experience of the pants that the past two elections where not only a woman supported me certainly i got a lot of votes from the female polling station but the main also voted for me and i'm hoping that i get the support of both. trust there will be more votes and support from woman but in the meantime i trust that. the other will have the support of male voters as well because my focus of programs is not just a woman. it's for the country. you know the president government under president karzai has been praised by many but also criticized for being completely controlled by americans not being independent enough now you yourself you have great friends in a west you're friends with very a lot of powerful people do you think are you worried that within your country your

western links could work against you. it's a very difficult question i actually do lie to my people i just think that my main supporters or my people. and i believe any politician who doesn't believe on his or her people who doesn't rely on the. people or her people will not be successful. i know that we need to have a longer term strategy partnership with our friends both our historical friends but also our strategy friends but in the meantime i know that. if i don't have the support of my people i will not politically survive and i know that if present car that doesn't have the support of his people he will not he will not survive he initially was regarded as a president that. is very much pro west or receive

a lot of support by western countries in particularly the united states but unfortunately we see a shift of politics in his policy the sentry he kind of changed when we had. the ground council that voted for the approval of the. agreement security agreement with united states but he doesn't sign it so we have seen a slight shift of policy from him when it comes to the to his politics towards western world. but i guess. we will have to keep a balance of politics to work regional countries in the way that we can continue to keep good friendship. with our strategy partners that have almost saved other some from the hands of extremism of course taliban but let me rephrase the question. only with the support of your people without the support of your strategic partners

or the west as you call them could you win the elections only with the support of your people. i think the country dude who would like to win should have the support of the people or should i also should have the approval to see the kind of find the love approval of the international community. but we would like to election to be very much fit i'm fine in the hands of really want to of wants to decide about diffusion because that's the basis for democracy so also brings me to another huge topic which is taliban when i think about it i mean i feel like it's inconceivable that taliban would actually let a woman run the country there will they try to kill you twice there was an attempt on your life they will probably do it again because there is no stopping them is it worth the risk. well that's not only you know that as you rightly mentioned it's not only one or twice that taliban actually tries to kill be it's

a continue to tread. even just couple of days ago i was i was warned that i need to be careful because there might be. kind of organized attempts. i think you know that. i have grown up during a very critical time of afghanistan history during basically the conflicts the thirty five years of conflicts. i have had the choice always have to stay in afghanistan or to experience a different experience but for me the best choice have always been to at least contribute to the change in my country i know sometimes it becomes so difficult that i'm like i think twice or three times before i make a decision especially when it's a big decision about the future of politics in my country and my goal in that in a big elections etc i think twice or three times because i know that this sort of

great especially that i have two daughters and my own family i have a responsibility towards my daughters as well but i guess if you balance my truths or comparing and challenges security challenges comparing to what i want to achieve and what they want to do away my visions for this country are much more heavier. and greater than the security challenge just so i kind of ignore the challenges and prefer to continue what i do but i take a short break now and when we come back we'll touch a policy or coffee about afghanistan's drug problem and life after the u.s. troops will stay with us.

it's. the continuing inconsistent rise of china to be declaring restrictive fly zones or a critical view on the subject of buying u.s. dollar debt in fact it would appear china is tearing a page from washington's playbook to make rules to fit its geopolitical interest. delimited torch is on its epic journey to such. one hundred twenty three days. through two thousand and nine hundred top two cities of russia. relayed by fourteen thousand people or sixty five thousand coming. in a record setting trip by land air and sea and others face. a limbic torch relay. on r t r g dot com.

did you know the price is the only industry specifically mentioned in the constitution and. that's because a free and open process is critical to our democracy albus. role. in fact the single biggest threat facing our nation today is the corporate takeover of our government and across several we've been hijacked lying handful of transnational corporations that will profit by destroying what our founding fathers one school class i'm tom are going to get on this show we reveal the big picture of what's actually going on in the world we go beyond identifying the problem trying to fix rational debate and a real discussion of critical issues facing america by bill ready to join the movement then walk a little bit there. war

is probably the most complex told to. the phenomenon of friendly fire probably extends back to the invention of gunpowder . if you are a bunch of people who don't know their families there are people. reading. this. shoot my brother in the leg not intentional because it is because it was night time for the morning even the best even the best soldiers. are going to make mistakes this is this whole idea of brotherhood and order. and camaraderie in this sense it was in this context that has absolutely

no place. and we're back with fauzia koofi who is running for president of afghanistan in two thousand and fourteen great to have you back so we're talking about taliban right before the break let me ask you this if you are elected president would you consider sitting down at the negotiating table with the taliban. it's a very. interesting topic for discussion but in the meantime very tricky. as i see it i have lived all my life in kabul including the taliban time and i have

experienced a brutal regime as a woman of course but when you when you but i was a politician i have to be flexible to bring peace and security to my country so i will certainly pursue any discussions and negotiations with alec group that will result peace in my country including taliban but in the meantime i know that the government of afghanistan has been following the so-called peace process for the past three four years and that is out that they got from this peace process was more assassination more killing of our leaders more violence on a suicide bombing. unless peace results so i think that the current peace process in afghanistan needs to be revised. i think we have to bring more original powers onboard and especially those countries that they have actually been supporting terrorism and extremism they have been training them they

have been providing with equipment namely in this case pakistan we need to talk to them because our the president the current present president also say that if pakistan would like to establish and support peace process that afghanistan peace will come to afghanistan safe so if our president also the current administration also believes that peace is in the hands of taliban. then i get to have the focus of that i guess we should talk to pakistan and involve the focus on in a harness the peace process but i would certainly not talk with those people who will not change i will not waste my time and the state i will just try to deliver good governance rule of law. poverty to the creation trying to establish a government which is a comfortable and i think taliban will automatically be marginalized i think it's a waste of time and i was selfish source's to continue to pursue

a process where the results are easy to read the current cut into the. process of peace which is the current administration a six of twenty well there is a high probability of taliban resurgence after the u.s. troops withdraw in two thousand and fourteen in its past form not reformed taliban do you and afghan citizens actually want the americans to stay because this is very controversial topic outside of afghanistan. well you know that a big council which is called loya jirga in afghanistan it's a very traditional means of the city and about national issues. decided that the government of afghanistan should go ahead and have the. security agreement with united states partly you know that our history is full of fight for freedom these are values that each and every afghan will fight the last drop of their blood but in the meantime because of the wrong neighborhood we are located especially the two

neighbors that we are located pakistan and also somehow iran we don't have good experience of their influence in afghanistan they have been we shipping policies in a way that. that it's more of insecurity and insurgent promoting insurgency in afghanistan so therefore i think people in afghanistan would like to continue to have a partnership with a country which is you know in a way a superpower and have a backup of a strong country that's why this group of like two thousand in there is that came from different parts of afghanistan yesterday they have approved afghan government to sign this agreement so i think the nation of afghanistan would like to have you know if you compare. now with one thousand nine hundred six or nine hundred ninety seven where our son was in the hands of. people from. pakistan even arabs. i think there is no difference between the current occupation

and the occupation then so tom oven with the claim that up on this one is an acquired country i think you don't have a valid point and therefore i think many people in advance of life to continue to have the same situation not to reverse back well you brought up the word occupation because you're too many does seem like even though it's a partnership and it's a civil partnership it does seem like a civil occupation to say do you think that your country will ever be completely independent. in your lifetime for example without americans. looking after afghanistan well a father son is defined an independent country. it is a country that has its dependency but in the meantime i agree that you know there are foreign troops according to the agreement security agreement we will have the troops for another ten years i am hoping that ten years will be enough time for afghan forces to stand on their feet and to be able to defend the countries to do

to themselves. financially you know that afghanistan is located in a very important to graphical location that connects central asia to south asia right now this is a location is being used as a when we can is but i hope that the ten years period of agreement with united states and their troops present well give a chance for afghanistan to change this weakness as a string in terms of the business between central and south asia and afghanistan to be used as a point for connecting. money opportunities in this. region so i'm hoping that in ten years time we will be able to have a country which which is standard itself and doesn't have to rely on forty and it's just. what can you imagine just for one second that two thousand and fourteen nature of american troops withdraw i'm just i'm just trying to get a clearer picture of what shape your country is in right now what would happen

would your government collapse right away or would it hold on. well there are two sanaa use there is one scenario which is the negative side of you and that is that if foreign troops withdraw and afghanistan is once again abandon as it was in one thousand nine hundred two and one thousand nine hundred six when the civil war the taleban fighting and came to power. the negative so now you would be the taliban might come back to power because there are many groups in afghanistan that will not like to talk about a brutal regime they will start fighting against taliban and so the civil war will begin once again but there is also the positive side are you the positive scenario is that we will be having an election in two thousand and fourteen we will have a. political transition kind of transition of power before the military exit or the military transition so this political transition will bring.

strong committed accountable government that is acceptable by the people of afghanistan. that government will pave the way for a military military transition slowly this military transition will happen without collapsing this situations of afghanistan i am very much hopeful that this second scenario will be a likely possible ok just really quickly to sum it up you know a lot of people in america are actually growing tired of war involvements american involvement in foreign countries has it ever crossed your mind that u.s. may have grown wary of afghanistan and it sees a guy who says a bargain and regrets its involvement in also greatly depends on who's going to be president next because their foreign policy involvement varies and president to president have you ever considered that they just at some point would not want to be in afghanistan period. well you know let me make it clear the united states was not in the sun just to help our people of afghanistan but they came to afghanistan

after two thousand and one when the eleventh september attack happened so they didn't just come to afghanistan to help on people only but they came to other son to make it a safe place where the security interests will not kind of grow from this place to become a wall of the trade put in security so therefore americans are not just here because of us but they are here because of a greater. issue which is the world security and their own security. and i hope that this partnership will continue because both nations of afghanistan are united states have been victim of terrorism. they experienced it in one thousand nine hundred one and under tritter continued we have experienced it before that i hope it doesn't depend on presidents but it basically depends on the becomes part of course strategy for united states to continue to support up on the sun i know that they have invested blood and treasure in afghanistan and we had that we also put

a high price for for being a victim of terrorism and for being for being wrong politics of different countries during the cold war a lot of big amount of money was paid to different groups in the during the cold war without looking how the money was spent and finally the talk about groups would establish as a result of that we were the victim nation because not only that we paid the kind of human cost but also our education and all values were were damaged and basically we had to restructure everything so i think it says. relationship which is which is into interest of the both countries in the interest of the nation and i hope americans will understand that more than there are times where i only have one minute left and i want to touch upon one of the most difficult subjects topics for afghanistan which is drug addiction because proportionally right now afghanistan has the largest population addicted to drugs. do you have

a plan how to deal with this. what as we are we are a victim of regional to reason you know that we are also a victim of regional mafia i hope we get a stronger support from the regional countries for their trafficking to support that you know. get rid of the trafficking and have a regional harvest support on this. and. it occasion you know we don't why should we talk why why don't we talk about afghanistan fruits which is the best food in the world. record which is the best kind of. takes in the world i think we can promote those kind of agricultural takings and provide for months with an alternative and sit of just poppy and i hope that happens when you become president but the question is how is that that united states and afghan government the current government allowed such mass truck production because i know that at some point taliban had dropped it to nothing but

now the drug output increased many times during the american presence why what's going on. well it's a very complicated it's a very complicated matter. but you know it's very much linked to security security if we. started to get worse and insurgency early days since two thousand and nine i guess the poppy cultivation also started to get more and more especially in the places where there is what it security there is more poppy grew i think that's a link with insecurity my plan would be if we have a strong government that's a comfortable and a team that is really harnessed. and works hard both in terms of education providing farmers with certainty which is reliable but in terms of vision of cooperation for trafficking i think it's again once again a war product in afghanistan traditionally people of afghanistan have not been cultivating poppy it's

a what product when there is no fighting i'm sure people how. well go for the legal way of think i'm thank you so much for this wonderful interview will wish you all the best worship you become the president i've got is that will be working for me from over here so all the best to you and your country that's all we had today and sophie shevardnadze join us next time here and so. many speak your language. programs and documentaries in arabic it's all here on. reporting from the world talks about six of the yard p. interviews intriguing stories for you. in trying.

to find out more visit our big. dog called. i was thinking somehow i had to come back because mom was waiting for me. i just knew that everything would be fine for some reason they were so confident because we were going to get married officially after he came back how could he not come back because the mere thought of it never crossed her mind. when the militants decided to try and break through her new guinea screaming grenade. explosion blew them all run his back. a little and it was all over all. we know that our call on our commander was leave us no matter how tough it gets we're

a team. of guinea was a senior. in his military trio. he knew that if he didn't smother that grenade with his body more of his comrades would die he gave his own life to save us friends. what defines a country's success. faceless figures of economic growth. for a factual standard of living.

please. please. the lead. economic ups and downs in the final. day the deal and the rest. will be briefly on alt.

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